Policy submissions

Here you’ll find a wide selection of policy papers and submissions we’ve published. Each paper draws on our experience working with disadvantaged youth, families and communities.

Submission to the Inquiry into the 2019-2020 Victorian Fire Season
- 1 May 2020
Jesuit Social Services welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Inquiry into the 2019-2020 Victorian Fire Season being conducted by the Inspector-General for Emergency Management (IGEM). The Victorian Government announced this Inquiry in January 2020, at the same time as it established the statutory body, Bushfire Recovery Victoria. The focus of the first phase of the…
Submission to the Victorian Government’s inquiry into VCAL
- 28 April 2020
Jesuit Social Services welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Victorian Government’s review of Vocational and Applied Learning (VCAL) in Senior Secondary Schooling. In our experience working with young people who have disengaged from education in Victoria, many students benefit from undertaking VCAL as an alternative to the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE). We believe…
Submission on the NT Aboriginal Justice Agreement
- 22 April 2020
Jesuit Social Services welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback on the draft Northern Territory Aboriginal Justice Agreement. Almost 20 years since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody that initiated the development of Aboriginal Justice Agreements (AJA) in other jurisdictions, the development of an AJA for the Northern Territory is an historic process. Jesuit…
Submission to the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability – Criminal Justice System Issues Paper
- 8 April 2020
Jesuit Social Services welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the consultation on the Criminal Justice System Issues Paper prepared by the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. We support the Royal Commission’s focus on key issues that people with disability face when they come into contact with the criminal…
Submission to the Inquiry into Homelessness in Australia
- 8 April 2020
Jesuit Social Services welcomes the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs’ Inquiry into Homelessness in Australia, in recognition that homelessness is a significant issue across our country. Our submission focuses on four interconnected areas of policy and practice relating to housing and homelessness: Structural disadvantage and the need to increase…
Submission to the Council of Attorneys-General Age of Criminal Responsibility review
- 1 March 2020
Jesuit Social Services welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Council of Attorneys-General Age of Criminal Responsibility Working Group review. The current minimum age of legal responsibility in Australia at 10 years of age harms children, and in particular Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. It is discriminatory, and out of step with human rights standards…
Submission on the Productivity Commission’s Draft Report on Mental Health
- 25 February 2020
Jesuit Social Services welcomes the Productivity Commission’s Draft Report on Mental Health. The draft report offers a detailed examination of the broader systems and services that impact on the delivery of mental health services, as well as the range of factors – from social exclusion to unemployment – that can be both a precursor to…
Submission to the Freedom of Religion Consultation
- 25 February 2020
Jesuit Social Services welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Freedom of Religion Consultation on the second exposure draft of the Religious Discrimination Bill. Jesuit Social Services supports the rights of all Australians to freedom of religious expression and freedom from direct or indirect discrimination arising from those beliefs. However, the right to freedom from…
Submission to the inquiry into homelessness in Victoria
- 24 February 2020
Jesuit Social Services welcomes the Legislative Council Legal and Social Issues Committee’s Inquiry into Homelessness in Victoria, in recognition that homelessness is a longstanding issue in the state. Our submission focuses on four interconnected areas of policy and practice relating to housing and homelessness: Structural disadvantage and the need to increase Victoria’s social housing stock,…
Submission to the New South Wales State Budget 2020-21
- 6 January 2020
Jesuit Social Services welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to the 2020-21 NSW State Budget. For more than ten years, Jesuit Social Services has been working in Western Sydney to help communities break out of cycles of disadvantage by developing local answers to local problems. Our submission to the State Budget is centered on…